US Patent 9069664 Unified streaming multiprocessor memory

One embodiment of the present invention sets forth a technique for providing a unified memory for access by execution threads in a processing system. Several logically separate memories are combined into a single unified memory that includes a single set of shared memory banks, an allocation of space in each bank across the logical memories, a mapping rule that maps the address space of each logical memory to its partition of the shared physical memory, a circuitry including switches and multiplexers that supports the mapping, and an arbitration scheme that allocates access to the banks.